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Published: September 27th 2007
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Zipolite, only about an hour bus ride east of Puerto Escondido is fabled as southern Mexico's perfect chill spot and recommended by several friends I met in Puerto. Zipolite was one of the most picturesque beaches I've ever seen and I had the place virtually to myself! Zipolite is a tranquillo place where I got to sleep in an open air hammock about 100 paces from the ocean, it doesnt get much better than that!!
The first day we went on a snorkeling tour that took us to 4 beaches as we swam with sea turtles, jellyfish and all sorts of weird looking fish and then went cliff diving off a 30 foot high rock!! All this for just $12!! At nighttime we all hung out on the beach and had a bonfire as we reminisced about the day we experienced together!!
The next day Micah, Cristy and I went to a river just outside of town that was very much in the country. Around the river, it was common to see burros, chicken and cows all roaming freely. As we were enjoying the water, we met Juan, a farmer and carpenter, who was looking for wood for his
next piece of furniture. After talking to Juan for a bit, he invited us back to his house for some coconuts. He gave us directions to his house and we told him we would let him work some more before we took him up on his offer. We began walking over to Juan's place when we found him in the forest hacking away with his machete at some tree branches that he said were perfect for his furniture. I offered to help him out a bit and he showed me how to cut the thorns off his wood with the machete. As I grabbed the piece of wood, fire ants that lived in the bark were begining to feast on my hands and feet!! I wondered how he did this everyday without getting stung as he showed me his bite free arms and legs. I guess practice makes perfect!! Juan then led us to his house where we found 10 chicken and 8 turkeys running around in his yard along with two very mean looking dogs tied up to a tree. We later found out that one of the dogs (ironically named "muneco" or "doll") was so fierce that he
attacked a bull by the legs and basically left it for dead!! So we tried our best not to piss muneco off. As we sipped coconut juice I glanced at the 50 foot high coconut tree in his yard and asked him how he got them down (wondering if he had some special tools to help him climb). As he stood there in his T shirt, shorts and flip flops I asked him how he got those things down and he responded "como asi" (or like he is now) just with the machete in his mouth. I stood there in amazement and wondered what kind of super powers he must have in order to scale a 50 foot coconut tree and told him he had to teach me his secret!
Next he showed us the inside of his house that he proudly constructed from scratch by himself in two weeks! He showed us the inside of his house where his wife and daughter stayed with three turkeys. As we walked in we saw a mattress, hammock and a huge stereo system that took up about 1/4 of his floor space!!! He then showed off this stereo system by blasting
some Mexican banda music while we finished our coconut juice!! Great times!! As we finished our beverages, he spoke of how he would like to come to the US so he could make more money for his family. He asked if there was any way I could help him get to the US and I pretty much felt helpless. It is always times like these which I found to be most difficult, as I could feel the desperation in his voice.
Juan was so hospitable with us, he begged us to come back that Sunday and offered to cook one of his chicken and make some mole sauce to go with it. I told him that unfortunately I was leaving for Oaxaca City the next day and that I really appreciated his offer and all of his hospitality. As we were leaving he kept insisting that we come back soon and not to forget where his house was so he could make us a chicken, teach us how to make furniture and show us how to scale a coconut tree!! Micah, Cristy and I headed back to Zipolite talking about what a great experience it was to meet Juan
and how touching his hospitality was. I must say meeting people like Juan is often the greatest part of any journey!!
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